I couldn't have asked for a better concert on my birthday. This was my first time heading out to Ripper's Rock House. It's a pretty nice venue. Drinks are cheap enough. The venue had Dio memorabilia everywhere, which was quite excellent. Ripper wasn't around during the show, but he was in the bar for awhile before things got started. According to some of the dudes I was standing near during the show, Jon Oliva was hanging out at the bar in the early evening too.

There was only one opener, and Jon went on around 9:30. The set was about the same as others got, except "Child in Time" was dropped. The show was a lot of fun. Jon told a lot of great stories, and it was just an intimate, casual sort of experience. Jon went straight from the stage to the bar when he was done, so I finally got a chance to meet him. That was definitely a lot of fun